Snowden out of airport, still in Moscow

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden poses with German Green party parliamentarian Hans-Christian Stroebele in Moscow on October 31. Stroebele returned from the meeting with a letter from Snowden to German authorities, which was distributed to the media. In it, Snowden said he is confident that with international support, the United States would abandon its efforts to "treat dissent as defection" and "criminalize political speech with felony charges."

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden's refugee document granted by Russia is seen during a news conference in Moscow on August 1. Snowden slipped quietly out of the airport after securing temporary asylum in Russia, ending more than a month in limbo.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, leaves a last-minute news conference at the U.S. Capitol after Russia announced that it would grant Snowden temporary asylum on August 1. "Russia has stabbed us in the back, and each day that Mr. Snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist of the knife," he said.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden's father, Lon Snowden, who has adamantly supported his son, talks to reporters in Washington on Tuesday, July 30. He has urged his son to remain in Russia "until we have assurances that he would receive a fair trial."

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Demonstrators in Berlin hold a protest march on Saturday, July 27, in support of Snowden and WikiLeaks document provider Bradley Manning. Both men have been portrayed as traitors and whistle-blowers. Manning was acquitted on July 30 on the most serious charge of aiding the enemy, but he was convicted on several other counts and likely faces a lengthy term in a military prison.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, center, speaks with journalists at the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow after meeting with Snowden on Wednesday, July 24. Kucherena said he was in daily contact with Russian authorities about securing permission for Snowden to leave the airport.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden meets with human rights activists and lawyers on July 12 in a transit zone of the Russian airport. It was his first public appearance since he left Hong Kong on June 23. He announced that he was seeking refuge Russia while awaiting safe passage to Latin America, where he has been offered asylum.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Prokhorovka on July 12. Russian officials said Snowden abandoned his effort to seek asylum in the country after Putin warned that he would have to stop leaking information about U.S. surveillance programs if he wanted to stay.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – A woman burns American flags during a protest in support of Bolivian President Evo Morales in front of the U.S. embassy in Mexico City on July 4. Leftist Latin American leaders and activists were fuming after some European nations temporarily refused Morales' plane access to their airspace amid suspicions Snowden was aboard.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Bolivian President Evo Morales holds a news conference at the Vienna International Airport on July 3. He angrily denied any wrongdoing after his plane was diverted to Vienna and said that Bolivia is willing to give asylum to Snowden, as "fair protest" after four European countries restricted his plane from flying back from Moscow to La Paz.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Umbrellas with slogans are lined up before a protest march to the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong on June 15. Snowden was hiding in Hong Kong, where he arrived on May 20 before blowing the lid off the NSA surveillance operation.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Protesters in Hong Kong shout slogans in support of Snowden on June 13. The NSA leaker vowed to fight any bid to extradite him from Hong Kong.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Graffiti sympathetic to Snowden is stenciled on the sidewalk in San Francisco on June 11.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – An American flag flutters in front of the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong on June 10.

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Photos:Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden

NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden outs himself on June 9 in the British newspaper The Guardian, which published details of his revelations about the NSA electronic surveillance programs. "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong," he said in a video interview.

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Story highlights

A Russian website's founder slams U.S., offers Snowden a job

State Department: U.S. ambassador conveyed to Russia how U.S. feels

Lawyer tells state-run Russia 24 that the country made a "humane" decision

After living in a Moscow airport since June, National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden began his temporary asylum Thursday by staying with Americans in the Russian capital whom he met online, his attorney said.

"He made a lot of friends here -- and great for him that those Americans who live here and found about his situation and were in touch with him," his Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said.

Sought by American authorities, Snowden is putting high emphasis on his security now that he can roam freely in Russia, according to his lawyer.

"He's concerned about life and health because he believes that people from the American intelligence service are chasing him," Kucherena said. "This is a superpower. And the statements made by the State Department recently are threatening to him."

Russia's awarding temporary asylum to Snowden -- he can legally stay in Russia for one year, his lawyer said -- has infuriated U.S. officials, so much so that they are reconsidering a planned meeting between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin next month in Moscow before a G-20 gathering in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"We are evaluating the utility of a summit," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

In an interview with state-run Russia 24, Kucherena said that Russia "didn't have a choice" in granting his client asylum.

"It was a humane decision because Edward couldn't come and buy himself tickets to Havana or any other countries since he had no passport," the attorney told the news outlet. "So Russia behaved very honest in this situation."

The lawyer added: "It's not right to implement any sanctions" against Russia.

A former U.S. government contract employee, Snowden leaked to the media that the NSA had secretly collected and stored millions of phone records from accounts in the United States. The agency also collected information from U.S. companies on the Internet activity of overseas residents, he said.

This high-profile leak thrust Snowden to the center of the debate about government surveillance, privacy and leaking for almost two months, during which he's been in limbo at Moscow's airport.

In addition to categorizing White House reaction as "extremely disappointed," Carney said Thursday that Snowden faces three felony charges for leaking classified information.

Snowden has said he is afraid he would not get a fair trial if he came back to the United States.

If he stays in Russia, he might have a job waiting for him. Pavel Durov, the founder of the social website V Kontakte, offered Snowden a job as a developer in his company's St. Petersburg office.

"I believe Edward would be interested in working on protecting personal data of millions of users," Durov wrote, who cheered Snowden for having "exposed the crimes" of the U.S. government.

WikiLeaks, the secrets-busting site that has put itself firmly behind Snowden -- as well as another infamous leaker, recently convicted Bradley Manning -- seemed thrilled about his being granted temporary asylum.

Since he was in Hong Kong thrown now, the group has had one of its officials with Snowden.

"We would like to thank the Russian people and all those others who have helped to protect Mr. Snowden. We have won the battle -- now the war," WikiLeaks said on Twitter.

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"Over the past eight weeks we have seen the Obama administration show no respect for international or domestic law, but in the end the law is winning," the quote reads.

U.S. expecting move?

The U.S. and Russia are still on track to hold a top level meeting in Washington next week in preparation for G-20 summit. Obama is expected to meet in D.C. with Putin, according to a U.S. official.

The official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the information, said that the White House could still decide to change the date of the Washington meeting, or even decide to not hold the meeting. The official emphasized that no decision had been made as of midday Thursday.

The meeting is expected to include U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and their Russian counterparts.Agenda topics include missile defense, nuclear arms reductions and the crisis in Syria, the official said.

He said he had no comment about any upcoming meetings with the Russians.

Another U.S. official who also declined to be named said that the Russian government "has been signaling ... for some time" that it planned to grant Snowden temporary asylum. "I don't think it's a shock," the official told CNN's Barbara Starr.

While the Russians have signaled their intentions publicly, the U.S. also learned of the country's plans in private conversations between senior U.S. and Russian officials over the last several weeks, the official said.

Senior White House, Justice Department, State Department and CIA officials had been speaking with their counterparts in Russia since the crisis developed. The official did not, however, say that the U.S. had been formally notified of the decision in advance.

While the Obama administration has to make a decision about what to do next in its relations with Moscow, the U.S. national security agencies are hoping to continue cooperation with Russia on counterterrorism matters. The official said the April Boston terror attack "reinforced the need for that."

The U.S. and Russia also are already cooperating on security for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, which the official noted are already being threatened by Chechen terrorists.

"Russia's action today is a disgrace and a deliberate effort to embarrass" the U.S., Sen. John McCain said in a statement.

"It is a slap in the face of all Americans," McCain said, calling for the U.S. to fundamentally rethink" its relations with Russian President Putin.

Harsh reactions from lawmakers continued to pour in.

"Russia has stabbed us in the back, and each day that Mr. Snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist of the knife," said New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer in a statement. "Others who have practiced civil disobedience in the past have stood up and faced the charges because they strongly believed in what they were doing.

"Mr. Snowden is a coward who has chosen to run," Schumer said. "Given Russia's decision today, the President should recommend moving the G-20 summit."

Snowden is a "fugitive who belongs in a United States courtroom, not a free man deserving of asylum in Russia," Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.

Russia's action is "a setback to U.S.-Russia relations," said Menendez, D-New Jersey. Snowden "will potentially do great damage to U.S. national security interests," and the leaked information "could aid terrorists," he said.

A CNN journalist saw the Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin in the hallway at the Capitol building and asked him what he thought. "I'm sorry they offered it (asylum) to him," Levin answered.

CNN asked how the move might affect relations between U.S. and Russia.

"It doesn't help them," he answered. "I hope it doesn't set them back too far because they already have plenty of challenges."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, in a statement, said that "Americans in Washington should consider this a game changer in our relationship with Russia."

Russia "could not be more provocative," and Thursday's developments in Snowden's case show that Putin has a "clear lack of respect for President Obama," Lindsey said.

He called on Congress and the Obama administration to make it clear to Russia that the U.S. will react in a "firm" way.

Photos:Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport

Photos:Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport

Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport – A man walks past Terminal F of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, where U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has been holed up since arriving June 23 from Hong Kong. The ex-National Security Agency contractor has admitted leaking classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs and faces espionage charges in the United States. In his first public appearance since arriving at Sheremetyevo, Snowden met with human rights activists and lawyers Friday, July 12, in the airport's transit zone. While it's still not clear if Russia will grant Snowden's temporary asylum request, he can leave the airport, Russian media report.

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Photos:Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport

Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport – An employee works the reception desk in the Capsule Hotel "Air Express" in Terminal F. Snowden has not officially entered Russia but is in the airport's transit area, the zone between arrival gates and passport control checkpoints. It includes terminals D, E and F.

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Photos:Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport

Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport – People wait in the airport's transit area. Snowden's exact location in the transit lounge has remained a mystery, and he cannot step foot on Russian soil without special visa clearance. Snowden said he is requesting asylum from Russia while awaiting safe passage to Latin America, according to a transcript issued by WikiLeaks.

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Photos:Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport

Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport – Passengers walk through Terminal D. Legally, Moscow has taken the view that Snowden has not cleared passport control and therefore is not on Russian soil.

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Photos:Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport

Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport – A view of one of the rooms in the Capsule Hotel "Air Express" in Terminal F.

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Photos:Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport

Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport – People wait at the transit area of the airport. Sheremetyevo has an expansive area for transit passengers.

Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport – Snowden has requested political asylum in dozens of countries, sparking speculation about his next steps. Venezuela has offered him asylum, but finding a way to travel from the Russian airport to Caracas may require some creative maneuvering.

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Photos:Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport

Inside Russia's Sheremetyevo airport – People line up before boarding an Aeroflot flight to Havana on July 6. Such a flight could offer connections to Venezuela. If Snowden accepts the leftist goverment's asylum offer, he must figure out how to get there without passing through U.S. airspace or that of other nations friendly to the United States.

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Russia media quotes Snowden's father

Snowden's father Lon Snowden, who has adamantly supported his son, appeared on state-run Russia 24 Thursday. He's grateful to Russia and the country's decision to grant asylum is worth respect, he said.

He loves his son, he added, and is looking forward to getting a visa to visit Moscow.

In fact, the father plans to see his son there soon, said Bruce Fein, the father's attorney.

Fein is working with Kucherena and "expects to coordinate a visit to Moscow with Mr. Snowden within the next six weeks," Fein told CNN.

On Wednesday night, Fein appeared on "Anderson Cooper 360" and said that Snowden wasin good health in Russia and that his lawyer was open to hammering out an ending that would satisfy all.

"There may be a time where it would be constructive to try and meet and see whether there can't be common ground that everyone agrees would advance the interest, the United States, Mr. Snowden, Lon, his father, and the interest of Russia in trying to resolve this in a way that honors due process and the highest principles of fairness and civilization," Fein said.

On Wednesday, Snowden once again made himself a thorn in the side of the NSA.

The British daily The Guardian, which broke news of the NSA programs on the surveillance of phone and Internet metadata after Snowden leaked the information, revealed yet another NSA data collecting scheme.

The report says that according to the leaked documents, XKeyscore allows intelligence agents to see anything you've ever done on the Internet. With ease, they can observe your browsing history, searches, e-mails, chats and more, the report says, and it does not require a search warrant.

Snowden's father told Anderson Cooper that the FBI had wanted to fly him to Moscow to encourage the National Security Agency leaker to come home to the United States.

But Lon Snowden said he backed out because it was not clear he would be able to speak to his son.

When he asked FBI agents if they would be able to set up communications, they hesitated, he said. And that made him suspicious.

"I'm not going to get on a flight and go to Moscow and sit on a tarmac to be an emotional tool for you to use against him. I want to first be able to speak to my son," he said he told the agents.

Lon Snowden has previously said that he wants his son to stay in Russia until he is confident he can get a fair trial in the United States.

"I am not confident at all," he said.

Even though Manning was found this week to be not guilty of aiding the enemy -- one of most serious charges he faced -- the fact that the soldier was convicted of 20 charges including several under the Espionage Act made Snowden's father uneasy, he said.

But, he added, his son's case is "completely different" from Manning's.

"I think my son has exercised discretion in the information that he has shared," he said.